Halloween Story: Crimson Flower
by kanpekinashi
Summary: On the 31st of Halloween, several years ago, Raven was met with the tragic death of his parents. Every year, on the anniversary of their death, he wanders back to his old house to sort out his problems. Yet this year, Raven isn't the only one there. In one night, he lost everything he had left, for the third time. "My one regret is that I'm not someone else." Halloween one-shot.


**A/N: I can't use my internet ;~;**

**Thank you, whoever invented the USB!**

**Well, this is for the Halloween One-shot thing. (Doubt we'll "win" though, we're not even ****_that_**** popular).**

**Sorry if this isn't exactly "scary" or anything.**

**Prepare for a supa long one-shot! :P (Okay, maybe not that long…)**

**Classes:**

**Elsword-Rune Slayer**

**Aisha-Elemental Master**

**Rena-Night Watcher**

**Raven-Blade Master**

**Eve-Code Nemesis (Wow, we really overuse her...)**

**Chung-Deadly Chaser (NOPE, NOPE WE HAVEN'T USED ENOUGH OF HIIM! *hugs random DC***

**Ara-Sakra Devanam**

**Elesis-Grand Master**

* * *

Raven couldn't remember anything of his youth. He didn't want to. All he knew was that it was his terrible, childhood days that had given him this _weird_ mental condition, or "disease", as everyone would call it. He didn't like to think about it, yet he was constantly reminded.

_Calm down, Raven_, the Blade Master told himself. _That only happens once a year…_

Yet he couldn't help feeling a terrible sense of guilt whenever he so much as glanced at _that_ picture on the mantle. A tall woman with flowing, blond hair and a smile as bright as the rising sun sat in a grassy meadow, lilies surrounding her as she smiled under the shade of a great oak tree. Raven didn't even know _why_ he kept that picture, it just made his condition even worse. _No, of course I know why._

He didn't want to admit to weakness, but he couldn't live without her. Though now that she was gone, that was the pictures duty; keeping his sanity intact. Seris had that effect on everyone, and that effect was what led to the mistake of _ever_ trusting her. Of course, he learned from that. He didn't even trust himself anymore.

After what seemed like hours of staring at Seris's picture, Raven finally got out of bed. His room wasn't that big, but he didn't mind. It was just him, anyway. A Queen-sized bed lay in the middle of the room, its soft, grey sheets scattered everywhere. Other than his bed, what were only there were his fireplace, book shelf, a tiny closet, and the softest red chair in front of the fire. He groggily limped toward the kitchen; an extension of his room. He gingerly poured himself a cup of plain coffee for another, plain day. He sighed dramatically as he gazed out the _huge_ window; so wide it left little space for the actual wall. He stared upon thousands of individuals, _normal_ ones, going about their everyday lives, not a care in the world, all but 500 feet in the air away.

_Click._

His glass dropped to the ground, shattering with a loud _crack!_ the sound echoing across the room. Raven's hands trembled with the force of an earthquake. His vision began to blur, and everything started spinning. He quickly reached for his horn-rimmed glasses sitting on the counter-but no, that wasn't good enough, still nothing was clear. He stumbled over to his room, tripping on his own two feet before quickly springing back up and tackling his bed. He threw the covers over himself, his hands clutching the pillow so tight the stitches almost came loose. Now his whole body was trembling; he couldn't stop, he wanted to stop, he hated this.

The only way _to_ stop was to satisfy his hunger. _No, no, I can't do that, not again, I-I-I…Maybe I don't actually want this to stop…_Raven chuckled, his laughs turning into sadistic cackles, vibrating throughout his whole apartment.

The loud _beep_ of his cell phone snapped him back to reality-no, this wasn't reality, this was just a cruel dream, wasn't it? Raven furiously threw the blankets off of him, panting. He was doused in sweat, his tidy black hair sticking to his face. Still trembling, he picked up the delicate, beautiful flower vase on the small table near him and angrily threw it _somewhere; anywhere-_it didn't matter, as long as he hit _something_.

The lovely decorated vase smashed against the mantle of the fire place, shattering the picture-_his_ picture of Seris, the shards spreading around the fire.

Raven wanted to scream, he wanted to cry, he wanted to strangle. He rushed over to the fire, picking up the broken pieces of glass surrounding it, not caring if he got cut. _The picture, the picture! Where is it?!_ He frantically searched, picking up pieces of the picture he had oh so carefully glued back together after that _incident_. He wanted to strangle him. No, he wanted to _murder _whoever had done this, whoever had broken the picture of his beloved, they would pay for ruining his last bit of sanity-

_Oh, wait, that was me…_

He casually tossed the bouquet of flowers from the vase into the fire, watching them burn up in crimson flames.

His "friends" were going out to the scare children today, the 31st of October, the day that his worse self always came out.

XXX

Aisha wasn't one to believe in October the 31st. It was just a silly little children's holiday, right? She need not worry. Yet still she found herself cowering behind Rena, as usual.

"E-E-E-Elsword, are you sure about this?" Ara stammered, peeking behind her shoulder.

"Of course I am. Nothing like scaring those little kids, eh?" The Rune Slayer laughed.

"I thought I raised you better than that." Elesis's crimson eyes narrowed. Elsword shrugged.

"Then I guess you're just a really terrible sister, then." Elsword chuckled.

"Elsword, there isn't any honour in frightening those below you, you know that?" Rena said.

"Screw honour, I do whatever the hell I want!" He stuck out his tongue. Rena rolled her eyes, tossing her blonde hair behind her shoulder.

"Well then, I won't take part in this." The Night Watcher warned.

"You're no fun. Hey, Aisha, you're with me, right?" The Elemental Master's ears perked up, her back straightening.

"Huh? Uh…Yeah, sure, right…" Aisha mumbled, observing her dull, brown shoes.

"You're okay with terrorizing small children?" Rena raised an eyebrow.

Aisha's violet eyes grew wide. "I mean-Of course not! That's terrible! You're so stupid, Elbaka! Don't you know there's no dignity in that? What if you scar them?" The purplenette scolded.

"Scarring them? Sweet! I didn't even think of that! Thanks, grape head!" Elsword laughed. Aisha girt her teeth. _That stupid child picks on _me_?! What did I ever do? Gosh, if I could just Blizzard Shower him right now-_She chuckled at the thought of a frozen Elsword.

"I'm all for scaring children." Eve shrugged. "It's just for fun, after all."

"Just for fun-Eve, I don't think you know what you're saying, we could get sued or something if we _scared_ children without any proper reason." Elesis glared at Elsword.

"Chill, Elly. Okay, if you must know, I have the perfect cover story; so some kids stole my bike-"Elsword started, before Elesis silenced him with a finger.

"I don't even want to hear it." The Grand Master face palmed.

"Too bad Raven isn't coming with us." Rena sighed. "More 'business', as usual…"

"Yeah, he's never here, I wonder how we even befriended him…" Elsword muttered.

"L-l-l-l-l-l-l-l-"Ara stuttered, pointing uselessly in the distance. "Look there, I've never seen that house before…" Aisha squinted through the darkness of the night; yes, it was hard to see, though the street lamps provided some light. Ara was right: there was a small, destroyed house over in the distance, over at the hills.

"You never notice anything." Elsword rolled his eyes.

"Don't be so mean!" Elesis nudged her little brother. "Ara is just…"

"Interesting. I'll go see." Eve interjected, already moving towards the tiny shack. Ara squeaked, muttering something about how "Eve shouldn't go over there!" yet to her disappointment, almost everyone followed.

"Don't worry, Ara." Aisha whispered, walking with the Sakra Devanam. "We'll be fine."

"This doesn't look too stable." Rena concluded, nodding at the building. "Seems quite old by the looks of it, too."

"Actually, I estimate this structure has been around for only about 50 years."

"Whatever, let's go in! I bet whoever this old guy was left something _valuable_ in here." Elsword said a maniacal glint in his crimson eyes.

Elesis held an arm out, halting Elsword. "You can't just walk into other people's property." He warned.

"Hey, it doesn't seem like anybody lives here, anyway!" The Rune Slayer countered.

"He is right about that. There's no problem in entering a territory claimed by no one." Eve pointed out.

Elesis girt his teeth. "Fine, but if you get arrested, don't blame me." He dropped his arm.

"Actually, I propose Aisha enters first." Elsword smirked. Once again, Aisha's head snapped up. She was just enjoying the silence at the back of the group, and of course, _Elbaka_ had to drag her back in. "Unless she's like Ara, but I doubt you're _that_ chicken, are you, Aisha?" Ara's face heated up, so bright it was like Rudolph's nose during Christmas night.

Aisha huffed. "Do you have to-WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" She screeched as Elsword grabbed her elbow, pushing her forward. "Wow, you really want this, don't you?" A grin spread across his twisted face as he nodded his head.

Rena sighed, "You know, you don't have to do this, right?"

"No, it's okay." Aisha assured, though as she stared at the big, wooden door before her, she wasn't quite sure anymore. _No matter, this'll get him to shut up._

She carefully creaked the door open, her hands trembling as she turned the door knob. Everyone else immediately looked away, and only Aisha was left staring into the darkness within. She carefully stepped onto the wooden planks, a creak echoing across the strange house with every step. _It's so dark, even darker than outside,_ Aisha thought. Suddenly, at the top of the stairs, she spied a figure _even darker_; all she could see was the figure's huge outline, towering over her. Though strangely, she was sure she could see the creepiest, most twisted smirk she's ever seen before on the person's face, their eyes glowing in the dark, providing minimal light. There was also-

Aisha screamed, a high pitch squeak going even higher than that of a train whistle. Her whole body trembled; she strangely couldn't take her eyes off this figure, which seemed to almost be moving, like it was slowly rising from a high seat. She heard a _slam_ down the hall, and her body seemed to freeze as a sudden rush of cold air hit her exposed face, numbing every part-

She stumbled backwards, nearly falling twice as the arms of Elsword awoke her to reality. Elsword raised his eyebrow, an amused grin on his face as he held Aisha's limp figure. She immediately sprang up, pushing Elsword away from her and slamming the door of the house shut.

"A-A-A-A-Aisha!" Ara yelled, running over to her and hugging her still trembling body. "Are you okay?"

Aisha opened her mouth, though no sound came out. Tears started to swell in her eyes, and she could only keep shaking her head.

"Aisha, what happened in there? You screamed. You know how worried that makes us feel."Rena said, a serious look, as always, pasted on her face.

"Red." She whispered, yet it was loud enough all the same."It was all dark a-a-a-and-"

"Okay, then, I think we should go, because from what Aisha said-"Rena started.

"Rena, there's a lot of red things. For one, _I'm red_." Elsword said.

"So, doesn't mean people wouldn't run away, screaming in fear." The Night Watcher rolled her eyes.

When Rena looked back at the red headed boy – he was gone. She quickly scanned the area, not catching a glimpse of the Rune Slayer.

"Hey, guys," Rena started, "where did Elsword go?"

Aisha had pried herself from the Sakura Devanam's tight grip, and stood a few feet away from Ara just for safe measures. She stood glancing around for the Eldork, but what she didn't notice was the figure looming behind her. She felt a cool breath go down her neck. And Aisha replied with a pitchy screech. Aisha ran towards Rena, hiding behind the elf. Rena shot the laughing boy a glare.

"That's not funny, Elsword," Rena scolded. Aisha was scared out of her wits as she cowered behind Rena, near tears. "You scared us half to death,"

"Not _us_," Elsword said, in between laughs, "_her_," He corrected, pointing to the frightened mage behind Rena. Ara patted the trembling mage's back. Once Aisha felt better, she smacked the Rune Slayer with her staff.

"Ow!" Elsword yelled. "Not the face!"

"_Fine,_" Aisha huffed, hitting Eldork again, but this time on the head.

"I didn't say hit me again, dammit!" Elsword shouted, rubbing his head. "For someone who read as much as you do, I thought you'd be smarter than that," Aisha's left eye twitched and she drew her leg back, kicking Elsword in the shin as hard as she could.

"Asshole!" Aisha yelled. "How's _that_ for vocabulary?!"

Elsword winced at the pain in his foot, "Not bad, but I could do better –" Aisha was about to send a fireball at the idiot, but then Elesis stepped in between the two.

"Okay, okay," Elesis declared, shoving the two apart. "I understand that Elsword's actions aren't always the wisest, but enough Elsword-abuse,"

"I suggest we should head in now if you still want to scare kids," Eve spoke up.

"Okay, then, let's go," Elsword announced, slightly limping towards the door. Great, now Aisha felt guilty for hurting him so badly. _Curse my way-too-nice personality. _Aisha and Ara slowly walked into the abandoned building along with the rest of the group with Eldork leading the way.

XXX

"Alright," His mother said, once the chariot jolted to a stop in front of an old, wrecked house. "The chariot will be here to pick you up in an hour, okay?"

"Yeah, okay," He replied, pecking his mother's cheek before exiting the chariot.

"Bye, Chung," His mother called, as the chariot slowly started moving again. Chung's grandfather had recently passed away and his mother wanted him to check out the house to see if there was anything he might've wanted.

Chung sighed. It was going to be a _long_ one hour if he was going to spend it in _this_ damaged old thing.

Chung walked up the creaky, wooden stairs to the front door. To his surprise, the door was opened slightly ajar. Chung opened the door a bit further, causing the rusty hinges to squeak. He peeked in.

The place was dark and cold, and the air was thick and humid. It smelled heavily of vanilla and the slightest hint of something else he could not place. He stepped into the building, closing the door in behind him. He saw a lighter lying nearby a candle so the first idea that popped into his head was to light the candle. He picked up the lighter in one hand and the golden base of the candle-holder in the other. He flicked a warm flame onto the lighter and brought the flame to the slightly used wick.

Chung placed the lighter down and headed towards the grand staircase. But not before he heard a crash and a scream.

XXX

"Alright, Aisha, you send a fireball at those old paintings and, Eve, you scream after Aisha sets the paintings on fire, got it?" Elsword demanded in a low voice. Eve nodded, but Aisha put her hands on her hips as a protest.

"There is no way I'm going to burn someone else's property!" Aisha retorted, a bit too loudly for Elsword's liking.

"Shh!" Elsword hissed, placing a finger to his lips. "Will you be quiet?! I don't want our first victim to hear your stupid voice and run off," Aisha raised an eyebrow with a devious grin pasted on her face.

"Oh really now," Aisha turned around, so her back faced Elsword, cupped her hands around her mouth and hollered at the top of her lungs, "HEY, RANDOM PERSON WHO JUST WALKED IN! THERE'S A WEIRDO TRYING TO SC – _AH!_" Elsword had tackled Aisha to the ground, whilst knocking over a…few items. He slapped his hand over her mouth.

"_Elsword!_" Elesis hissed, trying to pull her brother off of the violet haired girl. "You're such a crappy swordsman! Do you have no shame?" Ara quickly joined Elesis, tugging on the Rune Slayer's other arm. Rena stifled her laughter with her hand over her mouth. Eve's gold eyes darted towards the entrance they had just taken to enter the room.

"Quiet!" Eve snapped. The rest of the group fell dead silent, even Aisha stopped struggling to get free. "Someone's coming," Everyone quickly scrammed through one of the three doors, leaving only Elsword and Aisha.

"What the heck are you doing?!" Aisha shouted, her voice coming out muffled since Elsword's hand was still over her mouth. "Someone's coming and it could possibly be a killer! Or the owner of this house!"

"Shh!" Elsword shushed. "Maybe if we stay still, he or she won't notice us when they walk in," Aisha hit his head with her staff, but not as hard as before.

"You're so stupid, Elbaka," Aisha grumbled. "Of _course_ they'd notice us!"

"I was just kidding, sheesh," Elsword said, getting off Aisha and headed towards a door. "Which one did they go through again?" The footsteps became louder and less subtle. Aisha began fretting. Her eyes scanned the doors, looking for the one that looked the least creepy and yanked the fancy double doors open, shoving the Rune Slayer into the room. Elsword tripped on the carpet and his forehead smacked onto the nearby polished table, causing the white vase on the table to shudder. Aisha quickly closed the doors in behind her. Her breathing was fast and rigged.

"Was pushing me really necessary?" Elsword asked, rubbing the now purpling bruise on the center of his forehead. Aisha mumbled something under her breath that Elsword couldn't really quite catch. "What?" Aisha shook her head.

"Never mind, it's nothing," Aisha said, looking up. Her eyes widened as she saw a figure sitting in one of the sofas. "Oh no," Elsword followed her gaze to the person sitting in the chair.

"What? It's just a person," Elsword said, as the two watched the person pick up an intricate tea cup from the round table and stirred it with a small silver spoon in the hot liquid.

The figure took a sip. Then another. "Hello," The two of them recognized that voice anywhere.

"I thought you weren't coming with us?" Elsword said.

"Yeah, and even if you did change your mind, how did you find us?" Aisha asked. The man placed the tea cup down, staring into the fireplace which was radiating heat.

"I followed you guys here," He stated simply.

"Then how did you get here so fast?" Elsword asked.

"I came in shortly after you guys, but I wandered off in the wrong direction," He replied. Aisha's eyes narrowed. This was definitely him alright; he didn't act any different from usual, but something was off about him. Something in his tone of voice sounded…odd. "Come, join me for some tea," The man offered, gesturing to the two spare cups of tea on the table. Elsword carelessly walked forward towards him, but Aisha knew better. When she felt something was off, something definitely _was_ off.

She grabbed Elsword's arm, and stood on her toes to whisper in his ear, "Be careful, something seems…odd about him," Elsword gave her a confused look and just shrugged.

"Okay…?" He mumbled before picking up the two cups of tea. He handed one to Aisha. Aisha just stared at the cup of tea. "Well? Take it," Aisha's hands gingerly wrapped around the tea cup. She gazed at her reflection in the tea, rippling ever so slightly. The heat emitting from the tea seemed to tempt Aisha in drinking it. It smelled so sweet and it felt nice when the steam brushed against her cold cheeks, stung by the bitter October air.

Aisha brought the cup to tea to her lips and took two sips. Not too long after she drank the tea, she yawned and began feeling drowsy. And then her vision started to mix and blur. She shook her head, trying to rid of the effect, but it remained. Aisha drowsily stumbled towards Elsword, falling into his arms, mumbling unfinished sentences. She couldn't take it anymore, her eye lids felt like iron and slowly her eyes slid shut. But not before tumbling to the floor along with Elsword.

XXX

As Chung warily crept towards where the crash came from, he heard hushed, but urgent voices.

"…you're such a crappy swordsm…you…no pride?!" A feminine voice shrieked. He also heard stifled laughter and then a clear voice shot through the air.

"Quiet!" It was another girl's voice, she sounded…familiar. Chung's pace picked up. "Someone's…ming," After that, there was a massive amount of shuffling and footsteps, along with doors slamming shut.

Chung darted around the corner and reached for the door, but when he turned the golden doorknob, he was face-to-face with nothing but the messy room, covered in dust and the plastic-covered furniture. Chung's turquoise eyes examined the dusty room. In the back of the room, he could see three sets of mahogany double doors. He decided to go with the first door to the left; hopefully this wild goose chase won't get him lost.

XXX

Eve ran down the dark corridor, with Rena running behind her. There were spider-webs in every crack and corner of the corridor, not that Eve had expected an abandoned house to be clean. The jade-green wallpaper had peeled over the years, revealing the pale wood beneath the wallpaper. Eve's run slowed to a casual gait. Rena had to slow down as well, since the corridor was rather narrow.

"Eve, hurry up!" Rena hissed.

"There's no need – the footsteps are gone," Eve said. The duo eventually approached the other end, which was another door. Rena opened the door, revealing two sets of stair cases; one up, the other down. Rena turned to the Nasod behind her. "So, which way?" Eve looked at the stairs going up.

"Well, it'd be safer if we headed up, because if this building were to collapse, we could still escape, but we'd be utterly trapped down there if we couldn't escape in time," Eve analyzed.

The Night Watcher nodded, following Eve up the spiraling staircase. Her breathing hitched as the aged wood cracked under her boots. She looked up at the Nemesis, who merely ignored the creaking sounds underneath her, walking up the stairs casually, her battle drones floating lazily beside her.

A shriek escaped Rena as the step broke, pieces of wood flying everywhere as her slender body slipped through the now empty void, her fingers only barely gripping the edge of the stair in front of her.

"Ack! Eve!" Rena called, her fingers already morphing into a deathly white. She only heard more steps, and they didn't seem to be coming any closer.

"Eve…" Rena started to tear up, the watery substance blurring her vision as she stared down the empty void, sniffing. _Eve abandoned me._

She grit her teeth. _Time to toughen up. I have Erendil, after all…_A smirk found its way onto the once innocent Night Watcher's face as she released her grip on the stair, her hand immediately reaching for her sheath.

XXX

"E-Elesis, doesn't this seem kind of d-dangerous?" Ara squeaked as the Grand Master examined a knight armor statue. It seemed that they had accidentally run into the library of the house. It was a huge room; book shelves covered entire walls, a huge round carpet covering the floor. Several statues and painting hung, their life-like stares making it seem as if you were constantly being watched.

"Of course it's dangerous." Elesis rolled her eyes. "Doesn't mean I won't do anything.

"But what if the master comes back?" Ara shaked.

"By the looks of it, the master hasn't come back since…about 50 years ago." She shrugged as she pulled a dusty book out of one of the lower shelves. "Hey, it also looks like this person was quite a History fanatic…"

"You come to that conclusion just by one book?" Ara raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, I do. Don't worry, we'll be safe here, I doubt anybody will come here."

The Sakra Devanam wasn't exactly sure; something kept tugging at her sleeve, warning her of danger. Yet she shook that feeling away, focusing on Elesis.

"Okay, you're right, thanks…" she sighed, sitting down on one of the dusty red chairs, twirling with her spear. A forte _crash_ snapped Ara's head up, and her eyes widened as she observed Elesis fumbling around with a bunch of books in hand.

"Quit poking me, Ara…"She muttered, coughing as dust flew everywhere.

'I-I-I'm o-o-over h-here…"Ara stammered.

Elesis immediately whipped her head around, her expression at first welcoming. "Hey, glad you could join the party-"Her usually calm and serious features contorted to one of absolute fear; it was almost funny. The tall, slender figure behind her, clutching a knife in its delicate hand, lunged it forward, missing Elesis's head by a few inches. Ara watched as Elesis spun around, gracefully dodging the attackers blows easily, yet Ara could tell she was careful not to strike.

" . ." Elesis panted. Sweat trickled down her forehead, her crimson bangs sticking to her face. Ara sat there, watching the whole scene unfurl. _I wish I could help! Oh, but I wouldn't able to hurt_ anything_, as Elsword said, I'm useless…_Ara gasped as the figure reeled her knife, moving in swift motions as the knife broke the surface of Elesis's arm. A gash from her elbow to shoulder sprayed out hot, rose blood, staining her delicately tailored dress. She staggered back, muttering curses under her breath.

_If only I had my own weapon, I could beat up this…This traitor!_ Elesis thought. A piercing scream echoed across the room, and Elesis was horrified to see it was _Ara_. She lay face first on the ground, moaning as she realized her assassin had made it over to _Ara_ while she was busy thinking.

The assassin smirked, a devilish thing to see. Ara struggled to get up as the attacker kept her down with a boot on her back. It then picked up Ara's discarded spear, and examined it before it plunged the spear through Ara's head. Elesis herself screamed as Ara's crimson liquid stained the carpet, painting the death of her dear friend.

A single tear managed to escape from her eyelids; _I didn't even get to say goodbye. I'm a terrible friend, I was wrong all along…_Her body trembled as she charged towards her attacker; maybe she _might_ be able to fend her off, after all, she wasn't the leader of the Ruby Knights for nothing. She smiled as her punch was true; the fist of her good arm made contact with her attacker's eye, knocking them backwards. _An eye for an eye._ The attacker snarled before spinning the spear in its hand, lunging in forward. Elesis was barely able to escape; she wasn't used to fighting someone from long range. She grit her teeth, and arched her back, dashing low and delivering a low-sweep, knocking her opponent back, before it returned to favour by swinging Ara's spear across her lower stomach as it fell.

Elesis was gasping for breath now, barely able to breathe. Wet tears and sweat clung to her face, and when she realized that her assassin was suddenly _gone_, she curled into a fatal position, letting herself _sob_ for the first time.

Slowly, she crawled towards her now deceased friend, cradling her in her arms. She brushed her hair away, ignoring the huge bloody hole through her head. Out of nowhere, Elesis started to _laugh_. A maniacal laugh, the one of the devil itself.

She would avenge her friend, that was certain.

And she would use anything, even the help of the devil himself, to do it.

She picked up the spear the assassin had left, wondering if it was anything like a Claymore.

XXX

Chung opened the second door at the end of the hallway, revealing two sets of stair cases; one up and one down. His eyes scanned the two stair cases. The steps were covered with a thick layer of dust, except the steps leading up had footprints on the layer of dust.

Chung slowly walked up the steps, creaking under his weight. While his hand held onto the dusty railing, his eyes swept the area, looking for any signs. He came to a stop when he saw a large hole in the center of the stairs. It looked big enough to send a thin person falling to their death. Chung warily stepped forward, his foot accidentally kicking a chunk of stray wood down the hole. It just seemed to keep falling, never-ending. Chung stood there, waiting several minutes, but he never heard the wood hit anything else. Carefully, he side-stepped around the hole, but it wouldn't let him pass that easily.

Out of nowhere, a hand shot out from the hole, its fingers gripping onto Chung's ankle. Chung's heart was pounding against his rib-cage as he tried to remove the hand from his ankle. However, whoever this person was had a strong grip. Their fingers were long and lean so Chung figured whoever this was, was a woman. The hand just suddenly released Chung's ankle and it faded back into the endless hole.

Out of curiosity, Chung peeked over the edge of the hole and instantly regretted it. A person jumped out of the hole while attempting to slash Chung's face, but Chung managed to move quickly enough that they had only landed a small swipe along Chung's cheek bone.

Chung rapidly scrambled down the stairs, but his pursuer was hot on his heels. They threw their blade at Chung, but Chung ducked and the long sword landed with a _thunk! _in the wall ahead of him. Chung saw another door before him and attempted to reach for the door knob. His hand was almost…there…and…

XXX

Eve could hear sounds coming from the other side of the east wall.

_Just ignore it, Eve. You aren't here to _be_ scared, you're here to scare others…_The Nasod shook her head, continuing up the flight of stairs. Moby and Remy flew beside her, quietly chatting about whatever was "in" with Nasods at the time.

"Would you two please just shut up?" Eve grit her teeth, glaring at her battle drones, who quickly went silent. Nodding in satisfaction, Eve continued her walk up when she did a double take-Rena wasn't with her.

"Rena?" She stopped, calling the elf's name. All that she received was silence. "Don't play with me, this is a serious situation!" Yet still she got nothing. Eve began to tremble, worried for her friend. "Moby, Remy, go search for Rena, and report back to me when you've found her." The drones whizzed past her as she said the words, backtracking all the way to that first corridor of the house.

_Meanwhile I'll go and find somewhere safe to…hide…_She thought, as she reached the peak of the stairs. It was only an attic, but a large one at that. Huge boxes were piled up everywhere, dust covering their tops, and all furniture was wrapped in plastic. She specifically noticed at the end of the room were about 5 boxes beside each other, each piled up with at least 6 boxes.

_That'll be the perfect place to hide if someone were to come. Even I can't see that from here,_ Eve thought as she crawled towards the boxes. She craned her neck as she came closer; making sure nothing else was there, except…

Something was.

No, it was _someone_. Someone she knew, and thought wouldn't have come.

"R-Raven?!" Eve's voice cracked as she stared at the man sitting in the corner, drawing on the walls with his-claw arm.

"Oh, hello, Eve." He greeted, motioning her to join him. The Nasod hesitantly obeyed, sitting down next to the half-Nasod. "How are things?"

"Oh, they're fine, thank you, Raven" Eve asked, momentarily zoning out. How had he gotten here? Wasn't he supposed to be working today? He said he couldn't come…"I thought you couldn't come?"

"Neither did I. I didn't know you were coming here, and this is where I always go when I need to…Sort a few things out." He sighed. "Where are the others?"

"I don't know. Rena and I kind of got separated from them, and then she…Got separated from me." Eve finished lamely. "How's your job?"

"All my co-workers fear me." Raven shrugged. "I think it's because I walk around with a blade at my side.'"He gestured to the long sword in its sheath, attached to his belt.

Eve laughed. "Why do you bring that around, anyway? It's not like an attacker will jump out of nowhere."

"Actually," The Blade Master's amber eyes stared into the Nemesis's golden ones, void of emotion. "They can come from anywhere. This house is a good example." That sent shivers down Eve's delicate spine.

"Err, well, you see, the only reason I'm here is to hide, and with you here, I think that'll be hard enough, I think I'll just leave and find somewhere else." She muttered, standing up and dusting her dress off.

In an instant, Raven's eyes gleamed, a sword was unsheathed, and Eve found herself in the clutches of a certain Blade Master. He held his sword against her neck, slowly breaking what looked like flesh.

"Ra-"

"Shut up, little girl. I've been waiting to do this for a year, and lately I've been more tempted than usual. You shall have the honour of being my first kill tonight." Raven's features went wild, his eyes diluted and his smirk growing ever larger. Eve barely had time to whimper before the sharp blade quickly broke Eve's "skin", making a clean cut as her long life ended. Her head disconnected itself from her neck, rolling to floor as Raven let go of her, laughing in a way only Lucifer could.

He sauntered down the stairs, all the while the same grin on his face, pondering on which of his friends would satisfy his hunger next.

XXX

He was gasping for air as he sunk to his knees, the knife landing just above him on the door. He heard hurried footsteps as his random assassin came forward, a wicked grin on its face.

"Well, well, Chungie. Look who's so 'weak and fragile' now!" His attacker threw its head up, cackling. His vision was blurred, the result of his panicked tears. He felt his head break, pain searing through his skull as his assassin placed a heavy leather boot on his head, forcing him back to the floor. "Don't worry; I'll make sure your death is _newspaper_ worthy." His attacker dug its heel into the back of his head. He was trembling now, fighting back sobs, not wanting it to know how weak he really was.

_Oh, Eve, if only you were here right now…_

He'd never get the chance to say how he _really_ felt, or even say goodbye. He hasn't even _seen_ her the whole day!

Wait, no, that wouldn't happen. He'd at least put up a fight. _Yes, this definitely will be newspaper worthy…_While his assassin was cackling again, he quickly reached for his Silver Shooters, which hung at his waist, and blindly shot _somewhere_ in his attacker's area.

"Argh! Bastard!" It growled as it fell backwards. Chung quickly sprung up, ignoring the pain in his skull. Sure enough, his aim was true; his attacker's shin now had a deep hole through it, blood slowly gushing out. He was sure he saw even a bit of bone. "That hurt like shit! Ugh! You really are a nuisance, huh?" Suddenly, a huge blast of wind swept Chung off his feet, his head hitting the hilt of the sword on the door, further increasing the damage on his head. _Thank God I have my armor, I don't want to think about what kind of damage that would have done without any kind of protection._

He looked up to see his attacker standing over him, heavily panting, its right leg wobbly. A bow and arrow (_Where did those come from?_) lay in its hands, ready to end his life just with a flick of the wrist.

"I wonder where your team is now. I wonder where _Eve_ is now. You love her, don't you?!" His attacker laughed. "WELL?!" It screamed when he wouldn't answer. He hesitantly nodded his head, not knowing why he was cooperating with his murderer

"Please, don't hurt her…" He whispered, barely audible, though his attacker's advanced hearing picked it up perfectly.

"Don't worry; I'll do anything for love. Especially widowed love, that's the best." The assassin released its grip on the arrow, and a surge of adrenaline surged through its body as the arrow broke the surface of Chung's forehead, warm blood slowly leaking out. It quickly grabbed the arrow, pulled in out as it saw a satisfying hole, and repeatedly stabbed Chung's forehead, making sure the kill was true.

The assassin collapsed to the ground, beside Chung's now lifeless corpse, silently weeping. _When did I become this way? Why did I do this? I can't stop._

"I'm sorry, Chung." Rena whispered to silence. "I can't keep my promise."

XXX** (1)**

Raven groaned with delight as he viewed his work of art.

_I know I have problems, but this is just so much fun!_

Aisha and Elsword's bodies lay in a corner, already deprived of their blood and insides, a gaping hole in each of their upper bodies.

The once peaceful and beautiful room was now a mess. Raven had ripped them of their insides, throwing them everywhere, staining everything with all kinds of liquids. He had smeared his hands on all the furniture, turning it a sickly crimson. He had even written on the white wall; _Elsword and Aisha: May they rest in Hell together!_ As well as took both of their hearts, literally, gluing them to the wall under the printing. Raven also tugged at their hair, grabbing huge clumps of purple and red hair, throwing them at the wall with glue.

He glanced at the two grotesque corpses at the corner, what once was completely gone. Smirking, he picked them up by the collars up their shirts, and hung them on the coat rack by the door, them being significantly lighter due to the loss of all their blood and organs.

Raven scowled at his once white coat, stained with red. He shrugged. No one would see him, anyway.

_The library is always fun, isn't it? I think I'll go there._ As he walked down the halls of his former home, he whistled a tune he had learned here, back when his family was alive and the house was bustling with life.

Now he'd make sure it'd bustle with _death_.

He shivered as that time came back to him, clearer than a second ago.

_"Father, I passed my piano test! Isn't that wonderful?"_ _A short, ebony haired boy announced the good news to his father. _

_A taller man with messier and longer hair, and a single red streak cascading down, scowled at his son. "I don't care if you passed. Did you get 100 percent?"_

_"Yes, I did father!" Young Raven squealed._

_"That's not good enough!" The father roared, grabbing a kitchen knife, taking the life of his-_

He felt himself hyperventilating, and quickly shook his head, thinking of something happier.

_"Raven! What are you doing?!I thought we…I thought we loved each other! What's with this?!" Raven had ignored his screaming significant other, the flowing, beautiful blond hair and shining green eyes making him even angrier. His trusty blade sliced air. She screamed, backing away and falling over a piece of fallen debris. He stood over her, the flames behind him outlining his intimidating figure even more effectively-_

No! That was also bad!

He sighed, racking his brain for anything _good._

Yet everything he thought of led him back to this day, years ago, once when humanity was taken from him, second when love was.

XXX

Elesis dashed out the library, clutching the spear tightly.

_Where did she go?!_ She furiously thought. She screamed, breaking down doors instead of simply opening them, partly to test the long weapon in her arms, partly to let out pent up rage.

She heard screams and crashes from upstairs. _Maybe the assassin's in there! Well, whoever is, I'll kill them either way!_

She charged forward, turning through hallway and hallway randomly, until she stumbled over something.

"Stupid piece of-Ah, sorry, Raven! Just get out of the way before I rip your throat open!" The Grand Master warned, jumping over a hunched-over Raven.

"Don't worry about it, Elesis. Say, where are you headed to in such a hurry?" He asked, cocking his head to the side. Elesis eyed the red stains on his fluffy white coat, but ignored it.

"Some assassin came over and killed Ara!" She screamed. Raven's amber eyes widened. "I know right! Now out of my way, I have someone to take out…"

"You know, violence isn't always the answer." Raven's human arm twitched. "And why do you have Ara's spear?"

"SHE WAS MURDERED, REMEMBER?!" She yelled.

"So?"

"SO I SAW IT, RAVEN! I SAW IT WITH MY OWN-UGH!"

"You still haven't answered my question."

Elesis sighed. Raven always was a clever one. "I took Ara's spear because it was the only thing I could arm myself with. I mean, I don't bring my Claymore around everywhere, have you seen the size of it?" She explained, trying not to explode into a fit of rage.

"You shouldn't take someone else's property without asking." He shook his head.

"Screw you." Elesis muttered, and in an instant she was pinning Raven to the ground, who was too slow, or at least she thought, to react. She lunged the spear forward, until Raven's blade suddenly clashed with it, knocking it out of her hands. Her eyes widened as this time, he pinned _her_ to the ground. Without saying anything, Raven's blade tauntingly outlined her face, blood trickling from the irregular cut. He had a monotonous expression on his heavy face, which was what creeped Elesis out the most. She grit her teeth as he then outlined her eye. _Gosh, this hurts. Is this how Ara died? I can't die a coward!_ Since only one arm was holding her down by her neck, it was surprisingly easy to wriggle around. She cautiously raised her knee, and suddenly brought it forward at high speed, kneeing Raven's stomach. He momentarily paused, and she quickly grabbed the hilt of the blade with one arm, pulling it backwards as Raven went forwards. She kneed him again, but her hand quickly slipped over the hilt and across the blade, cutting her hand. She gasped and pulled it backwards, much to her regret. The blade went crashing down over her throat, a sickening _crack_ echoing across the hall. Elesis's shocked expression was permanently etched on her face. Raven casually wrenched the sword out, wiping it over his coat before moving on, walking past another of his dead friends.

Not like he cared for Elesis, anyway. He barely knew her, at least less than the others.

Like Elesis, he heard…strange noises coming from upstairs.

He rushed through the hallways, meeting two sets of stairs.

He stepped forward, only to be blown backwards again. He grit his teeth as the back of his head hit a door, blood slowly leaking out where he was struck. His head began to swim with confusing thoughts and images, he couldn't concentrate-But no, no, he'd go through with this, there should only be 2 people left. Where he had once stepped was now a small hole, though he had no idea why.

He quickly dashed up the upper staircase, carefully dodging a step that was missing, and found someone throwing knifes at the wall. Yet it wasn't who he hoped it would be. Rena had a crazed expression on her face, like one of an over-joyful doll. Raven was panting, sweat staining his now ruined coat. Rena turned as she threw her knife once more, staring at Raven.

"Your coat is ruined." She muttered.

"Yeah, I know." Raven replied, his good arm reaching for his sheath. Suddenly, her legs began to tremble-_What's wrong with her right one? It appears to be heavily bandaged…-_ and were those tears swelling up in her eyes?

"Oh, god, Raven! I'm a terrible person!" She sobbed. "I-I-I-I murdered Chung and Ara!" His eyes widened. _So that's what happened to them, eh? Looks like now only she's left…_"I-I don't know why I did it! Something just came over me and-I have to pay the price…" She clumsily limped toward the wall, yanking the knife out of the wood. "I'll just kill myself right now!"

Her long blond hair was tangled and messy, her bright green eyes puffy and watery.

_Almost like her._

"No!" Raven croaked. Rena paused, lifting the knife over her heart.

"What is it Raven?!" She snapped. "I have to do this, before I kill you! _I don't know what's wrong with me…_"

"It's okay, because I-"He paused. Should he tell her? What if she ran to the police?

_I deserve a lifetime of prison anyway._

"Because I've also killed…A few people…"Raven continued. Rena's eyes widened, dropping the knife with a _clank!_ "My family, my old friends, Elsword, Aisha, Elesis, Eve…" He counted, feeling guiltier as he went on, "and Se…S-Seris…"He muttered. A hand went to Rena's mouth.

"A-All this time?! Gosh, Raven! You could've killed me too!" Rena gasped.

"At least you're taking it better than I expected." Raven laughed before immediately going back his usual serious monotonous expression. "It's nothing I can control. Yes, I would have killed you, and I probably will, especially since you remind me so much of…_Her_." He snarled. "I'll just go now. Take care."

"Raven, you just walk out on me when I _want_ to die, yet you don't listen to the pained screams of your victims that want to _live?_" The Night Watcher raised an eyebrow.

"Of course, you mean so much more to me than them." Raven sighed, turning around.

"Then would you-"Rena hesitated. _Is it alright to ask him?"_Kill me?" Raven's amber eyes widened.

"I could never do that to you. I mean I-"He choked on his words, shaking his head. "Never mind. I-You can't die, Rena, you may be the last bit of sanity within me."

Rena ignored him, picking the knife off the ground, once again steadying it over her heart. "I don't care what you say, you can't convince me otherwise. I deserve to die, anyways." She smirked. Raven quickly dashed to her side, knocking the knife out of her hands. Raven, shocked of his own actions, quickly embraced Rena, holding her tightly, like how a child would hug a teddy bear. He buried his head in her soft, blonde hair.

"Please don't leave, Rena." He whispered. "I love you, you know that."

"_I know that_, get off me!" She shrieked, pushing him off of her. "I need to do this, you can try to convince me all you want, and I could care less about what you think!" Her words were like venom, seeping through his heart and tearing away his soul. He just stood there as she grabbed the knife once more. Her bright green eyes bore into Raven's amber ones. "I'm sorry, Raven. I really do love you back." She plunged the knife through her heart, reeling backwards and falling to the ground. Raven rushed to her side. Her green eyes were still open, and he longingly brushed her bangs aside. Her knife, Erendil, was, sure enough, right where her heart was. He quickly pulled it out, embracing her motionless corpse.

Something he thought he had long ago lost broke that very moment.

Without hesitating, he grabbed Rena's gloved hand with his normal one, carefully picking up Erendil, cautious not to break it with his Nasod arm, and drived it into his own "heart", falling next to Rena, his human arm holding Rena's in a deathly grip.

_That house always brought out the worst, didn't it?_

_Hopefully I'll meet them __**all**__ back in Hell._

* * *

**(1)-This was especially uncomfortable to write…**

**A/N: Oh noes! Kayuki isn't here!**

**Kayuki: That's right, I'm at my friends house, laughing at your face at this very moment J**

**Zenya: whatever. It's such a shame you weren't able to work that much on this chapter, eh?**

**Kayuki: Yeah, blame time and my stupid internet :I**

**Zenya: Sigh. Anyway, I hope you all liked this really weird one shot! :P**

**It probably isn't scary, more gruesome and creepy than that…**

**I tell it, it felt so AWKWARD for me typing most of this, especially the end. I hope it was good enough!**

**Kayuki: Oh shit, look how wet it is outside! It better not rain while we're trick or treating!**

**Raven: Aren't you guys too old for that?**

**Zenya: SHADDAP YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD! Anyway, for Halloween, I believe Kayuk is being either a witch (With just the hat), a nerd, or LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD! Yes, that was it J I'm being Slim Shady. To anyone who knows who that is, you're awesome.**

**Kayuki: Hey, remember when you thought this guy wearing a Duck Dynasty costume was a hobo?/slapped**

**Zenya: It's not my fault I'm terrible at guessing!**

**Anyway, tell us what you think J**

**R&R!**

**P.S Happy Halloween! ;)**


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